“But more because of Gareth than on my account. They love Bale more than they do me.

“And Bale goes into the game in excellent form – but who could doubt him? I never understood that. I already said in the media that, although you had to be patient with him, that Real had done well in signing him.”

Bale will play in his home city of Cardiff tomorrow, as Madrid take on Sevilla in the Super Cup Final in the Welsh capital.

The fixture is a result of their successful Champions League campaign last season, where Bale ended up netting the winner in a tight match against neighbours Atletico Madrid.

His rise from a young player who so nearly didn’t make the cut as a professional footballer to a European Cup winner with Madrid is the stuff of fairy tales, and has ensured he is now a national icon back in Wales.

Bale will be hoping he can use his talents to steer Wales to their first major tournament since 1976, when qualifying for Euro 2016 gets underway next month.

Dan Connor

Dan is a sports journalism undergraduate from Barry, South Wales. He is a club journalist at West Bromwich Albion and a weekly writer for The Independent’s sport section. Previous work for BBC Sport, BBC Radio and Manchester United has seen Dan cover a range of sport such as rugby union, tennis and Formula One. His expertise lies in Welsh football, in particular with Cardiff and Swansea City.